Why Germany v Scotland stadium is not called Allianz Arena for Euro 2024 opener

ALL eyes will be on Scotland when they share the stage with Germany at the European Championships’ big kick-off.

All roads have led to Munich on June 14.

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But NOT to the Allianz Arena.

Well, not quite.

Bayern Munich‘s home IS hosting the curtain raiser of this year’s football extravaganza.

The stadium – encased in white patterned cushions – has become synonymous with Bundesliga and Champions League football since it opened in 2005.

Impressive inside as it is out on it’s colour-changing facade, the 71,000 capacity ground will be a fitting venue for the opener – although Uefa could have sold the stadium out several times over with 100,000 Tartan Army due to fly in for the festivities.

While Berlin will have the final on July 14 – Munich has been handed the honours for the opening ceremony for the eagerly awaited summer showpiece.

But not the ‘Allianz Arena’. There’s a twist.

For the purposes of the Euro 2024 tournament the ground will be known under a different name due to a little known rule.

As per the governing body‘s strict sponsorship and branding guidelines, only official tournament partners are permitted to be associated with Uefa competitions.

When officials move in to host games at grounds across the continent their rules – and their rules only – apply. The same goes for their sponsors and partners.

That means sponsored stadia like Arsenal‘s Emirates, Manchester City‘s Etihad Stadium and Borussia Dortmund‘s Signal Iduna Arena are forced into a temporary name change.

Usually, Uefa just apply the club’s name to the ground and venue.

The City of Manchester Stadium is home to England‘s champions. Their EPL rivals play Euro games at ‘the Arsenal Stadium’ while Borussia Dortmund host games in the BVB Stadion Dortmund.

When Bayern Munich moved out of the run down Olympic Stadium and six miles further out of town they sold the naming rights to banking giants Allianz for a lucrative €8 MILLION per year.

They recently extended that to €130m to cover the next decade.

But it won’t apply this summer.

The iconic bank branding is covered up for Champions League games and was even removed for the FIFA World Cup in 2006 – where similar rules apply.

For these games Bayern Munich play at the Fußball Arena München – which is what the ground will likely be known as for the summer, and the Scots’, big kick-off.

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However the name could change AGAIN – though not back to the bank.

After the death of German football legend Franz Beckenbauer earlier this year, football fans campaigned for the ground to be renamed in his honour for the tournament.

It’s not just stadiums to be affected either.

In Austria, Red Bull Salzburg are reigning champions but under the same branding rules, they were represented in the Champions League under a re-branded name – FC Salzburg.

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